If you start reading a book, get 3/5th of the way through it, lay it aside, and pick it up again and finish it ten years later, does that say something about the book or about you?

That’s what happened to me with The Life and Diary of David Brainerd. It might actually be more than ten years, though for sure less than twenty. My edition of this book was printed in 1989 by Baker Book House, a reprint of the 1949 edition, edited by Philip E Howard, Jr. The original diary and life dates from 1749, first written and edited by Jonathan Edwards, the famed preacher.

Brainerd (1718-1747), from Haddam Connecticut, attended Yale University then became a missionary to the Indians, specifically the Delaware Indians of northern New Jersey. But he was a sick man, suffering from what modern scholars believe was tuberculosis. He had considerable success in his evangelistic efforts.

Brainerd kept a diary and journal at various times during his ministry. Sometimes this was required by the organization that sponsored his ministry. Sometimes he wrote of his own accord. After his death following a lengthy decline, Edwards, in whose house Brainerd spent his final months, had all the younger man’s journals and edited and published them, along with biographical material that Edwards wrote.

The journal is, like many journals are, somewhat boring. Brainerd wrote much the same thing from day to day. At least he did at certain times. At other times, especially in his last three years, he had more substantial and varied writing. It was more interesting. He was quite a man, working through poor health to evangelize the Indians. He took part in their everyday lives, not just preaching to them. It seems that the Indians loved him and regretted his parting from them when his health no longer permitted him to work.

Why did I put this book aside all those years ago? Like I said, it was somewhat boring. That was just the early part. Had I persevered, I would have come to the last third, which was considerably more interesting. I was also put off by the lengthy biography of Jonathan Edwards included. Philip Howard used 30 pages for a bio of Edwards, then two pages of a list of Edwards’ works. That left 320 some pages of the Life-Journal-Diary. I remember thinking that, if I wanted a bio of the fiery Edwards, I would have read a biography of him. For me, at the beginning of the book, it was wasted.

I picked up the book again about a month ago and finished it. I did so because I don’t like to abandon a book I start. Also, because I figured the book wasn’t a keeper. I wanted to finish it, then put it out for sale or donation. Finish it I did. And, as I thought, it isn’t a keeper. Once I finish this post, off to the garage it will go for disposition, one more book read and off the shelves.

I probably sound too negative. It’s a good book. If I were to rate it I’d give it 3 or 4 stars. It’s just not something I see myself ever reading again.

I believe I mentioned on a previous post that I have a few book reviews to catch up on, smaller books that Lynda and I read aloud in the evenings, books that look interesting but that, once read, are not keepers. This book falls in that category.

Love Slaves by Samuel Logan Brengle was first published in 1923. Our copy is a mass market paperback from 1982. Brengle was with the Salvation Army, a man of considerable rank in that organization that took its titles from the military. The back cover copy describes that book this way.

Here is an encouraging message—calculated to incite us to seek the highest. Side by side there goes the force and light of love…words to clear the thought as well as to strengthen the Will and guide the Heart.

Alas, the book fell a little short of this intended goal. At least for me it did. The description indicates this is a discipling book, aimed at making Christians more aligned with the message and work of Jesus Christ. It does attend to that goal, but for me there were two main problems with it.

1. The language was archaic. Thought written in the early 1920s, the English use—especially sentence structure—was from a period a century earlier. Now, I’ve read a lot of works from the early 19th Century, so I’m no stranger to difficult English and have learned to pull the message from it with no problem. This book was more difficult to do that. I bogged down often with the long sentences and the strange way of saying things.
2. Since this is a Salvation Army book, which we probably picked up at a yard sale or thrift store, it includes terminology and practices unique to them. Thus, the book didn’t really seek to make the reader a better Christian but to make the reader a better Salvationist, as they call themselves.

I don’t want to mislead anyone. It’s not a bad book, just not as good as I was hoping for. If you want to read a discipling book and improve your Christian walk and service, I think you have a choice of a thousand books more modern than this that will help you more.

Thus, my original expectation was met. Not a bad book, but definitely not a keeper. Off to the garage it goes for sale or donation.

The name of David Livingstone has been famous for years. I was a boy when I learned it, understanding him to have been an explorer. Stanley’s famous line, “Doctor Livingstone, I presume”, while perhaps not historical, was familiar.

So, when my wife recently gathered up some small books for our evening reading, I was glad to see that she pulled one about Livingstone from our shelves. David Livingstone: First To Cross Africa With The Gospel, by Mrs. J.H. Worcester, was first published in 1888, fifteen years after his death. We read a 1987 mass market paperback reprint of it by Moody Press.

Having said that Livingstone was practically a household name at one time, I have to admit to being ignorant of details of his life. This book provided them. Born in 1813 in Scotland, he had first thought to go to China as a missionary, but that nation closed due to war, so he went to Africa instead in 1841. There he married Mary, the daughter of fellow missionary Robert Moffat, who had inspired Livingstone to go to Africa. They would have six children together.

Livingstone’s work in Africa began as a Christian missionary for the London Missionary Society. Over time, the mission work was mostly turned over to others and Livingstone became an explorer of the interior of Africa. His reason for doing this was, at least in part, because of the horrors of the slave trade. Even though most European countries and the USA had outlawed it by the time Livingstone arrived in Africa, it was still going on in large numbers. He thought if he could help Africans have different economic opportunities they might cease cooperating with the slave traders. But the alternate economy required ports and roads to the interior. Livingstone looked for these.

This was an excellent little book (125 pg) that I highly recommend. I normally like to read more in-depth biographies, but this was a good entry point into the life of Livingstone. I told Lynda we needed to find a larger and more detailed biography. Then, while looking on the bookshelves in our basement family room, I found one. An inch and a half thick, it should be just the thing.

The small book, thought good, is not a keeper. Off to the garage it goes to sell or give away. While a modern reprints of the 1888 book are not hard to find, you ought to be able to find images of the original at several places on-line.